22nd May: A posting direct from the man himself

Hi guys,

Well it's nice to be something like a happy ending to this story. My recovery is headed in the right direction yet I'm conscious of the fact that things could have easily been so much worse. If I've learnt one thing from this whole experience it's that no matter what happens things could always be worse and you should always keep on pushing (my apologies for the triathlon-speak in that last bit).

To let you know what it feels like (and to use my physio Sue's analogy) it as if an army has run through my head with a scorched earth policy burning all the crops and killing all the locals. There's quite a lot to get used to. The most major thing is the fatigue given I wasn't a guy who ever let lack of sleep get in the way of anything important to me. Most things that use muscles require relearning (for example for accuracy reasons I'm having to one finger type the keys for this document even though I knew how to touch type before the accident). The relearning includes walking and eating. For example, try swallowing your saliva three times. I'm told that the third time was what it was like for me eating originally. On top of this I have a number of problems I'm told are common to head injuries the most annoying of which is a cloudiness over the brain. My memory is ok but as events move closer to 20th Feb they get harder to remember without prompting. I have no memory from before the accident itself until early April (for better or worse). This all said, I've been told by friends who knew me well before the accident that I still have the same sense of humour and the same smile.

I've tried to say thank you to a number of people and been told either that the accident wasn't my fault or I would have done the same for them. While both of these may be true neither reduces my need to say thank you to a few people. Firstly, my thanks go out to my parents, Lee and Bryce, (who could ask for anything more?), my sister and brother-in-law, Tracy and Andrew, (thanks for cutting short your OE for me) and my brother, Phillip, (thanks for your attitude and for still coming to visit me despite getting told off by the Cavit staff at least twice). My thanks also go to my extended family, to all the medical staff involved in my recovery (including the unknown doctor who stopped and helped me immediately following the accident) and to my co-accidentee, Ben Schurr. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has come to visit me, sent something to me or posted something on this blog site.

I don't have an internet connection yet but hope to get one very shortly. I will take over putting posts on this blog but I'm sorry to say the frequency will drop. I will put something on this site when I have some major news about my recovery.

Kind regards and best wishes,
Mike